Techie trapped by matrimony match in ₹87 lakh crypto scam, TGCSB secures partial refund

A software professional from Mancherial, who lost nearly ₹88 lakh in a cryptocurrency scam after being lured by a fake profile on a matrimony website, has managed to get back a slice of his money in what police describe as a rare recovery.

Crypto assets worth 2,703 USDT (a digital currency designed to be worth the same as one U.S. dollar) valued at about ₹2.38 lakh, were traced to the wallet of a Chinese national. It was refunded to the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau’s (TGCSB) official account after investigators secured a court order. The amount will be credited to the victim’s wallet once the court gives final clearance.

TGSCB Director Shikha Goel said that the man had lodged a complaint on June 12, stating that he had been duped by a woman calling herself ‘Nanditha Reddy’ on Bharat Matrimony. She initially built his trust through conversations about family and career before persuading him to invest in cryptocurrency through a fraudulent platform. Over several months, she and her associates extracted ₹87.58 lakh from him, including hefty charges labelled as tax, currency conversion fees, and even a ‘fraud investigation fee’.

An investigation by TGCSB cyber sleuths revealed that part of the money had been diverted into the wallet of one Jiang Chuanxuan, a Chinese national, on the OKX exchange. “Acting swiftly, we froze the wallet and forced a refund of the funds. A rare occurrence in cross-border cryptocurrency fraud,” added the officer.

Police have warned the public to be wary of people met through matrimonial websites and to avoid transferring cryptocurrency without verifying the recipient’s identity.